Dreaming of You
by HonorableJackass
Summary: He died. He was sure of it. It had happened before, after all. Sandy didn't know what to think. He couldn't remember how it happened. He remembered the pain. It had hurt so much. His heart had stopped and he died; He knew he did. And then... Sandy woke up. Cross-posted on Ao3


Sandy had died. It wasn't the first time, actually, but the concept was still terrifying regardless. He didn't actually remember the details of his second death, nor could he remember much of his first death for that matter. Being completely honest with himself, Sandy couldn't remember much of, well, anything really. Actually, that was a lie. He remembered the important stuff like his name, his friends' names, and his favorite color.

And yes. Having a favorite color and remembering said color was very important, however, as great as knowing that he had a particular fascination with mauve, what Sandy really wanted to know was why he was glowing.

The whole glowing thing, while a bit concerning, was not the only thing either. He felt, off. Sandy couldn't say for sure if it was an after effect of his lack of memory but something felt, not wrong per say, but… different.

His body felt like it was not his own. His limbs felt too heavy and everything felt tingly; Like the pinpricks you get in your legs when you sit still for too long. His first steps after waking in a desolated park area were wobbly. Walking, Sandy found, was a bit harder than he initially thought. His legs felt as though he were unused to carrying his own weight which should have been impossible as he must have used them to get to his current predicament in the first place, right?

His clothes were definitely not suited for a midnight stroll either. The golden fleece that covered him head to toe sat starkly in contrast to the dark, dewy grass beneath him. Somehow, the bright one-piece pajama set illuminated the empty park in tandem to his own skin. It was odd, to say the least, but strangely comforting. Also, the hood that Sandy had currently pulled over his head was magnificent! It was so soft and tickled his cheeks and Sandy absolutely adored it.

All in all, Sandy had no idea, besides the fact that he knew he had died, how he had arrived at his current situation. Sitting alone. In a dark and scary park. Glowing.

The moon above him felt comforting. Sandy couldn't help but melt against the base of a tree as he gazed up at the glistening moon in the sky. It calmed him, somehow, despite the creeping fear that rose in him as he pondered the moment. He was frightened and very lonely. The chill, despite the thick fleece of his clothing, had begun to settle in his bones. The noises that echoed from beyond the small wooded area made his toes curl into the fabric of his pajamas. It was the moon that settled him, somewhat. Its rays dampened the nasty feelings creeping in his chest as it shown brightly beside the twinkling stars in which the moon shared it's home with.

And regardless of that, Sandy couldn't help but feel sad. Something had happened. He had died but then what? Sandy did not yet realize fully, or care, that death was usually a permanent thing. He had remembered pain, then darkness, and then… this. He could no longer call for his friends. He found that no sound left his lips beyond a strangled whisper and pushing that limit made his throat ache something fierce.

Despite that, no one came. Not North or Tooth or even Bunny, as he cried their names into the dark. He had wept then when no call of response had come back. His hands shook beside him as he sat, waiting. Waiting for what? Sandy had not a clue. It was the moon that told him to wait. And no matter how many times Sandy silently pleaded the moon to explain or even to merely keep him company, it kept quiet.

The moon comforted him and, despite having no voice, told him to wait. Sandy set his shaky hands on his lap and watched as his breath left a lingering mist in front of him with every puff of warm air. He sat, waiting, despite the growing cold and damp dew that soaked into his pajamas. His small feet stretched out in front of him, moving to the tick of an unheard clock as the clouds above him slowly moved to block out the moon.

But nobody came for a long, long time. In this time, Sandy took a moment to think. He felt it in his heart that his friends were alive. He did not know if they were still handling the situation in which he had found his death in. Sandy hoped not. He wondered if Jack, the boy who Sandy remembered to be more than a little amusing, had found his place in the group. He wondered… about a lot of things, really. It was when the moon had nearly hidden from view when Sandy heard, or rather felt, the moon speak to him once more.

'I wish you well, my friend.'

The moon was gone. It had left and hidden beyond the horizon. The moons departure had made Sandy feel sad, lonelier than before. In the moon's absence came the sun. It was bright and very warm. Sandy felt the first of the sun rays warm his chilled body. It was nice but the sun didn't speak to him. The sun remained silent as it cast a beautiful glow of orange and pink across the previously dark sky.

Sandy shifted, the bark of the tree had dug uncomfortably into his back. He hadn't noticed before due to his whole body feeling like one giant bruise. He moved into a more comfortable position, held it, and then moved once more. The ground was hard and his bottom had long become numb from sitting up for so long. He hesitated for a moment before standing but he didn't leave from the trees protection. The moon had told him to wait.

Birds had begun to chirp above him. Sandy hadn't noticed them wake up until the fluttering of wings stole his attention. He tried looking for the birds, wondering what they looked like. Images of stunning blue and purple feathers came to mind and Sandy yearned to see them in person. He liked birds and found that their chirps and whistles were fun to listen to.

The golden being wondered if it was their own language. The chirps and clicks could very well be sounds of conversation. He wished he could speak to them and attempted to imitate those sounds but found that he couldn't understand them even after managing a semi-passable chirp. Sandy was a bit disappointed he couldn't speak to the birds. He had, after all, tried very hard to learn their language and found it more than a little unfair that the whistles and clicks remained unrecognizable. Nonetheless, the birds must have appreciated his tenacity as a tiny pair of birds fluttered down to the ground and landed near his knee.

Their feathers were not nearly as blue or iridescent as the ones he had imagined but they were no less beautiful to look at. The glossy brown and black pattern on their wings and small curve of their beaks captured Sandy's awe all the same. Little heads tilted to and fro as the chirped and bounced in the grass beside him. Sandy gasped and carefully moved to lay on his stomach. He did so slowly as to not frighten the small, flighty creatures. The birds didn't seem to mind and actually hopped a bit closer, nearly touching his nose as they gave a series of whistles and chirps.

Sandy smiled and repeated their song in return. His own verse was not nearly as fluid as the winged creatures before him but the birds didn't seem to mind. In fact, they seemed to preen under his careful attention. Sandy gave a silent giggle as one of the birds, the slightly smaller of the two, puffed its chest out haughtily. Such prideful creatures they were.

It wasn't long before two birds became seven. They sang their songs in the midst of harmless shoves and nudges from the fellow feathered friends as they each struggled to remain in the spotlight. The sounds of jingling bells and small pittering steps registered in his memory as Sandy gently separated the more aggressive birdies from their friends. He ignored the phantom scent of freshly baked cookies in favor of imitating the lighthearted tune the birds seemed to favor. No good came from forcing a memory as Sandy found the heartache and pain that came with it was not the least bit pleasant.

Instead, Sandy focused his energy and attention on his new friends. They demanded his pure attention and the slightest bit of disinterest was cause for a serious offense. Mentally, Sandy drew names for each of his little friends. While a bit unfair, Sandy did have a favorite of the bunch. One of the first little birdies that came to greet him. She was a little bigger than his other friends and preferred to hop on a single leg. Sandy had been concerned that she was hurt at first but then he noticed that the small avian liked to alternate her legs when she hopped so Sandy figured she was alright.

Gamma, the name he gave the silly bird, didn't fight her friends for his attention and preferred to perform her little hop dance from behind the group. Sandy figured she didn't need to fight for the spotlight as she was essentially a double threat with a wonderful singing voice and a dancer. In fact, his other feathered friends must have sensed his slight favoritism and gradually left him one by one.

It made Sandy feel a bit guilty that he had obviously made his new friends upset but he didn't let it bother him too much. Gamma had stayed behind, after all.

Sounds of pounding footsteps reached his ears echoed through the little forest area Sandy had woken up in. The sudden noise had frightened Gamma. Enough to send the little bird away in fear. Sandy pouted, upset that his remaining friend was scared away. The golden boy turned his attention towards the noise and frowned at the loudness of it all. It was enough to silence the rest of the wildlife around him and Sandy found that he did not appreciate that at all.

The steps stilled for a long moment shuddered breath gasped in exhaustion before the sound of crackling grass reached his ears once more. Sandy could hear shouting in the distance along with other sounds of stomping footfalls but his attention was solely on the man who barged into Sandy's isolated clearing.

The man was tall and bulky. His clothing was torn and stretched incredibly thin in order to cover his body and limbs. He was dirty; Covered in ash, dirt, and other dark stains. His face looked haggard and Sandy could see bruises blooming on his skin. His eyes were dark and narrow, the corners of his beady eyes wrinkled in anger. All in all, the stranger did not look very pleasant. Sandy wondered if this was who the moon told him to wait for. He hoped not.

Nevertheless, Sandy stood and cautiously took a step towards the massive figure. Now at his full height, the man didn't look as tall as Sandy had originally pegged him as. Though he was still incredibly tall. Sandy was a little miffed that if he probably didn't even reach the man's chest in height. Well, maybe if he stood on his toes.

The mans gazed instantly snapped to him, causing Sandy to freeze in his approach. The stranger's arms bulged from the suddenness of Sandy's appearance but didn't relax even after Sandy took a step back. The shouts were growing louder as whoever chased this stranger into the woods grew closer. The angry man seemed to debate something for a moment before he shook his head with a growl.

"You're just a kid," he sneered. Sandy involuntarily tilted his head in confusion. Was he? The man growled again before taking two large steps towards him and in one swoop of his arm had Sandy pressed up against his sweaty chest. The child frowned and wrinkled his nose when the smells emanating from the angry man assaulted his senses. Sandy didn't very much like the man for his rough handling. He especially disliked being lifted off the ground without his permission. Sandy tried to wiggle out of the man's grasp the hold on him just became stronger. Sandy stopped moving when the man's grip began to hurt.

The thundering footfalls finally reached the odd pair. Sandy could see very little of what was going on as the man had his back towards the newcomers. Sandy couldn't tell how many more people intruded in his small clearing and despite the rising confusion he was feeling, the boy couldn't help but wonder if maybe one of the new strangers was what the moon meant for him to wait for.

"Ishida! You are under arrest for unlawful quirk usage, property damage, conspiring to commit h—"

"If you are going to list everything I've done, we may as well be here all day," Sandy heard the man holding him boom. He shrunk back as much as he could at the loud noise and tried to get out of the hold but the man only adjusted his grip with one large hand moving to rest against his throat. The angry stranger laughed as he finally turned towards the other newcomers in the clearing.

Sandy watched as the two new strangers seemed to become impossibly stiff and wondered if the angry man's smell had managed to reach them too. They looked much cleaner than the angry man, even though one of them was dressed rather oddly. Though to be fair, Sandy really shouldn't be one to talk.

The one dressed oddly looked… loud. His shiny leather jacket looked out of place in such a woodsy area. The pointy spikes that adorned his collar and belt glinted under the stream of sunlight that broke through the trees overhead. A strange metal box covered his whole throat and looked uncomfortably heavy. His hair was nearly the same shade of yellow as his own and somehow stuck up into one long spike on top of his head. Despite the glasses covering his eyes, Sandy could tell he was looking right at him.

The second person was dressed more formally in a recognizable uniform. She was a police officer. Obvious with her state of dress and cap she wore on her head. Standing next to the other stranger, she looked completely ordinary… if one were to ignore the slitted pupils and lizard-like tongue Sandy thought he saw poking out.

"Yeah, didn't think so," the man holding onto Sandy said with a mean laugh.

"Put the kid down, Ishida," the spiky man demanded. He took a step towards Sandy and the angry man but stopped when the large man began to tighten his grip. Sandy let out a pained gasp at the feeling of his body being crushed. It felt like his head was going to pop off if the angry man added just a bit more pressure. The pain he had been feeling all night only amplified.

"Y-You get any closer I'll crush him!"

"Leave the kid out of this, Ishida! You don't want to go down for murder as well!" Sandy was right when he thought the spiky man looked loud. He couldn't help but cringe when the man spoke to the angry man. It kinda hurt to listen to him.

"Let me go and I'll leave the kid alone! You move any closer I'll fucking kill the brat!" Sandy frowned at that. He was pretty sure he had just recently died already. He didn't know how he had done it, waking up that is, but he was positive that he did not want to experience the same thing again. Sandy was beginning to feel scared. He didn't know if the scary man was lying when he said he'd hurt him. His head was starting to hurt and he could feel his bones beginning to crack under all the pressure.

It was then that Sandy felt something stir in his stomach. He began to panic. The feeling, whatever it was, felt familiar. The warmth spread from his middle and stretched out to his limbs and head. It felt right but not knowing what was happening scared him. The boy heard the adults around him argue but he couldn't decipher the words. Sounds became like a background buzz, no matter how hard Sandy tried to focus on any one voice. He wanted to cry or scream but before he could do any of that, he remembered.

He remembered the warm light that flowed across his fingertips. The golden sand that followed his every whim. How it stretched, shrunk, flipped, and spun into whatever his heart desired. Memories of fifty-foot tall dinosaurs, flying helicopters, and pirate ships came to mind. Dancing ballerinas, aliens, and cowboys flashed behind his eyelids along with the happiness and laughter that came with them.

Memories of sleepy nights and warm beds. Memories of his dream sand came rushing back to him as the rushed and angry voices of adults argued above him.

Sandy opened his eyes. He knew his eyes were glowing a brilliant gold as he felt his quirk come to life. He ignored the pain in his body as he slowly moved a hand of the angry man's arm, the one pressed against his throat, and slammed his hand on the mean stranger's face. A burst of bright, golden dust exploded after the sudden contact and Sandy grinned when he felt the effect take hold.

The arms holding him grew lax and Sandy quickly pushed them off of him. He caught himself in mid-air before the bottom of his feet could touch the ground. The child spun and created a small cloud of dream sand to sit on as he watched the angry man stumble. The resulting crash that came when the angry man fell to the forest floor sent a small shockwave in the immediate surrounding.

The officer and the loud man didn't move until the angry man let out his first snore.

* * *

 **A/N Thanks for reading the first chapter! Fanfiction doesn't have a tagging system like Ao3 so I'd figure I would put the warnings down here.**

 **This may get dark for some people. This fic will contain mentions of torture, death, and violence on children. I won't go into too much detail when they may occur. Also, there are no spirits in this fic. The Guardians and Pitch all have quirks related to what they have in the movie. The most obvious ones being Sandy with his dream sand and Jack and his ice powers. The others you'll just have to wait and see :)**


End file.
